Why the Sudden Rush Into Africa? It’s the Oil

Oil-rich African nations could benefit from the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Kenya, Libya Uganda and Nigeria are thousands of miles removed from that toilet of European tension known as Ukraine, but as drama unfolds in Eastern Europe, their destinies could be closely aligned. In essence, the more Russian President Vladimir Putin puts the grip […]

US Pays Half Of Gazprom’s Overdue Invoice With $1 Billion Ukraine Loan Guarantee

With Ukraine no longer paying for Russian gaz, and with Gazprom making it clear Kiev has to a) first pay the overdue $2+ billion in invoice and then b) prepay some $5 billion in gas until the end of the year of Europe gets it, it was only a matter of time before the US […]

How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveaways

Over the past century, the federal government has pumped more than $470 billion into the oil and gas industry in the form of generous, never-expiring tax breaks. Once intended to jump-start struggling domestic drillers, these incentives have become a tidy bonus for some of the world’s most profitable companies. Taxpayers currently subsidize the oil industry […]

Risk of “gas war” grows as Ukraine halts payments to Russia

* Crisis mounts after Russia’s seizure of Crimea region * Kiev to stop paying for gas pending new supply deal * Ukraine says Russian gas price hike unacceptable * Armed men seize police station in eastern Ukraine * Billionaire energy mogul scoffs at Western sanctions By Pavel Polityuk and Conor Humphries KIEV, April 12 (Reuters) […]

Iran’s oil exports surge above West’s sanctions cap: IEA

Iran’s crude oil exports have surged to their highest in 20 months, far exceeding a 1 million barrel-per-day limit set by the West under an interim deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. The International Energy Agency’s monthly report revised February’s global crude imports from Iran upwards by 240,000 bpd to 1.65 million barrels per day, […]

Imperialism Déjà Vu

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information Fact; The world’s resources are finite. Fact; Supply is constrained and demand keeps growing along with the world’s population. Fact; A sustainable and secure supply of raw materials and energy is becoming the number one priority for […]

Iran Nuclear Chief: Whoever Has Nuclear Technology Gains ‘Inherent Power’

Iran’s Nuclear Chief Ali Akbar Salehi said whoever has nuclear technology gains an “inherent power” in a video posted on an Iranian affiliated YouTube account. The video is translated with English subtitles. Salehi contended the West is pressuring Iran on its nuclear program because they fear Iran also gaining this “inherent power”: ALI AKBAR SALEHI: Whoever […]

The Era Of ‘America The Oil Exporter’ Could Soon Be Upon Us

While politicians and policy makers may disagree about how to capitalize on the recent U.S. oil and gas boom, they do share enthusiasm for what it may bring: energy independence. But since conflict broke out between Russia and Ukraine last month, an increasingly vocal cohort in Washington has been touting another idea: energy diplomacy. The […]

Is the US Dollar or the World Coming to an End?

2014 is shaping up as a year of reckoning for the United States. Two pressures are building on the US dollar. One pressure comes from the Federal Reserve’s declining ability to rig the price of gold as Western gold supplies shrivel and market knowledge of the Fed’s illegal price rigging spreads. The evidence of massive […]

Like Everything Else, the Fight Over Crimea Is Also About Oil

Russian President Vladimir Putin penned a long letter to 18 European leaders today, accusing them of shedding responsibility for Ukrainian debt and threatening to cut off Ukraine’s gas supply — which in turn could lead to gas shortages in Europe. This issue is why the crisis in Crimea, is much more than just a local […]

To Reduce Population Growth, Save More Babies

In 2013 the United Nations Population Division revised its population projections to show that population could grow even faster than previously anticipated, especially in Africa. Planning ahead for feeding a hot, hungry, teeming planet is both a numbers game and social venture. Calories, climate change, and acres of land are some of the factors on […]

Feds propose 2-person crew for crude oil trains

The Federal Railroad Administration announced this morning it will issue a proposed rule requiring two-person crews on freight trains carrying crude oil and establish a minimum crew size for most freight and passenger trains. The Federal Railroad Administration said Wednesday it will issue a proposed rule requiring two-person crews on freight trains carrying crude oil […]

Militant Bombs Stop Iraq Oil for a Record 40 days

Militants whose bombs have shut Iraq’s main northern oil export pipeline for 40 days are preventing repairs, threatening to extend an outage that is already the longest since the days of sanctions in the 1990s. Targeting the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline where it crosses a stretch of desert known as Ain al-Jahash, or Donkey Springs, the saboteurs […]

US says Russia using natural gas as ‘tool’ against Ukraine

The United States on Thursday said it condemned Russian efforts to use energy as a “tool of coercion” in its dispute with Ukraine. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Russia had reneged on an agreement with Ukraine that offered reduced natural gas prices in exchange for a 25-year lease on Black Sea fleet facilities. […]

White House moves to block Iran’s UN ambassador nominee

The Obama administration said on Tuesday that the nomination of a new Iranian ambassador to the UN who was involved in the 1979 hostage crisis was “not viable”, intensifying a dispute that could have an impact on nuclear negotiations. Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said that the nomination of Hamid Aboutalebi to be Iran’s ambassador […]

40 Central Banks Are Betting the Yuan Will Be The Next Reserve Currency

As we have discussed numerous times, nothing lasts forever – especially reserve currencies – no matter how much one hopes that the status-quo remains so, in the end the exuberant previlege is extorted just one too many times. Headline after headlines shows nations declaring ‘interest’ or direct discussions in diversifying away from the US dollar… […]

Russian Sanctions And The Negative Effect On Global Energy Security

After a series of headline-grabbing statements about the possibility of “switching” European consumers over to American gas, the US media hastened to announce the launch of Obama’s oil and gas offensive against Russia. In reality the EU is not currently prepared, neither technically nor in terms of price, to buy its energy resources from the […]

Orlov: Business as usual

Thinking about collapse is very useful because it allows you to prepare for it. And preparing for collapse is very useful too—from the pragmatic perspective of risk management. Consider the possibilities. If you prepare for collapse and it doesn’t happen, then you look a tiny bit foolish. If you don’t prepare for collapse and collapse […]

Iran Can’t Withdraw Much Oil Revenue Under Interim Nuclear Deal

  Iran has been unable to withdraw much of the unfrozen oil revenue it was to receive under a November interim nuclear deal, a possible complication for efforts to end the decadelong standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The problems were outlined in interviews with nearly a dozen Western and Iranian officials and diplomats, bankers and […]

Analysts Predict Gazprom’s 80% Gas Price Hike In Ukraine Will Backfire

Russia’s top natural gas producer, Gazprom, will eventually lose more than it gains from raising the gas price for Ukraine by 80 percent, analysts said Friday, predicting Kiev would cut purchases and fail to pay in full. Gazprom on Thursday announced a price rise for Ukraine to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters, the second increase in three days. The $485 price is the highest of any Gazprom customer and compares with about […]

The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources

By Michael Klare, the natural resources expert who told us that the disappearance of easy to access and extract “cheap oil” will lead to the development of unconventional energy resources like tar sands, oil shale, deepwater drilling, mountaintop removal, artic oil exploration and that these developments will come at growing environmental and human costs.  In […]

Ukraine raises fears of gas price war with Russia

Ukraine has warned that it may be on the verge of its third natural gas price stand-off with Gazprom in eight years, raising the possibility that Russian supplies to European markets could once again be disrupted.Addressing his cabinet on Saturday afternoon amid lingering fears that Russia could launch further military incursions after last month’s annexation […]

Obama, the Sauds, and Bottomless Hypocrisy

US President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia confirms what many even causal political observers have begun to suspect regarding recent US political history, that Washington’s values aren’t just nonpartisan, driven entirely by special interests permeating both sides of the political aisle, but are altogether non-existent. To understand why requires an understanding of both […]

Venezuela Issues Food Ration Cards

Venezuelans wary that food ID cards are thin end of rationing wedge Electronic cards that restrict families to shopping once a week aim to prevent widespread food shortages across country Venezuelan police clash with demonstrators in Caracas. Critics say the food ID card is the most blatant sign that the economy has spiralled out of […]

U.S. Warns on Potential Russia-Iran Oil Deal

Such a Move Could Trigger U.S. Sanctions, Official Says The U.S. has no information to suggest that a reported Russian oil-for-goods deal is being completed, but has expressed concerns about a move that could lead to fresh U.S. sanctions, a senior official said late Friday. “We do not have any information to suggest this deal […]

Russia cancels zero export tax for natural gas to Ukraine

Russia on Thursday canceled zero export tax for natural gas it supplies for Ukraine. “I make a decision to cancel the government’s decree No. 291 of April 30, 2010, taking into account that the (Russia-Ukraine) agreement has been also terminated,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Alexei Miller, CEO of the gas monopoly Gazprom, during […]

Iran, Russia working to seal $20 billion oil-for-goods deal

Iran and Russia have made progress toward an oil-for-goods deal that sources said could be worth up to $20 billion and enable Tehran to boost vital energy exports in defiance of Western sanctions, people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters. In January, Reuters reported that Moscow and Tehran were discussing a barter deal that would […]

Carbon Delirium: The Last Stage of Fossil-Fuel Addiction and Its Hazardous Impact on American Foreign Policy

Of all the preposterous, irresponsible headlines that have appeared on the front page of the New York Times in recent years, few have exceeded the inanity of this one from early March: “U.S. Hopes Boom in Natural Gas Can Curb Putin.”  The article by normally reliable reporters Coral Davenport and Steven Erlanger suggested that, by sending our surplus natural […]

Koreas Trade Fire

North and South Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other’s waters Monday in a flare-up of animosity that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters for several hours, South Korean officials said. The exchange of fire into the Yellow Sea followed Pyongyang’s sudden announcement that it would conduct […]

German Minister Sees ‘No Sensible Alternative’ to Russian Gas

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said there was “no sensible alternative” to Russian natural gas imports and it was unlikely Russia would stop deliveries because of the crisis over Ukraine, a German daily reported Friday. “Even in the darkest hours of the Cold War, Russia respected its contracts,” the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung reported Gabriel, who is also energy minister and vice chancellor, as […]

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